Tesla Absolves Autopilot Of Responsibility In Model X Crash

Ralph Mccoy | July 14, 2016, 17:24

Tesla Absolves Autopilot Of Responsibility In Model X Crash

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues to investigate the crash. Tesla says the technology is to "assist" a driver and a driver must authorize the use of Autopilot and agree to associated warnings.

The accident that killed Joshua Brown appears to have happened because Autopilot - a self-driving mode still in its testing phase - could not distinguish between a white truck and a bright sky in this case, according to Tesla.

Seeks clarification on specific issues on how the systems works in regard to crossing traffic at intersections, compromised signals from sensors and cameras, as well as how this kind of information is usually conveyed to occupant of the vehicle or driver.

Safety regulators also want records of how often Autopilot told drivers to grab the wheel and how many times the vehicles automatically slowed down.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday it is also probing the fatal Florida crash. The first was a fatal crash that's already being investigated by multiple government bodies and fortunately the second accident was not fatal. The information request is a routine step in an investigation into the crash, spokesman Bryan Thomas said. However, if any agency is familiar with complex autonomous technology it's the NTSB. "The speed limit is 55, he was driving 60 on autopilot".

Earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission began an investigation into Tesla and whether the company failed to disclose the May Autopilot crash that resulted in the death of the driver.

On Friday July 1, Detroit area art gallery owner Albert Scaglione, 77, flipped his Model X onto its roof while driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh.

"This is contrary to the terms of use that are agreed to when enabling the feature and the notification presented in the instrument cluster each time it is activated".

The company says that it will instead focus on keeping interest rates "as low as possible" for its financing program. It's unclear if the driver had his hands on the wheel when the accident occurred, a state trooper said.

"He still needs to maintain control of the vehicle, even if it's on Autopilot", said Shope, who could not release the driver's name. The automaker completed the review of the data until the last week of May, as per the company.